Pope Francis prays at Blue Mosque during Turkey visit

Pope Francis, during his three-day visit to Turkey, has prayed at Istanbul's
Blue Mosque

Bowing his head and clasping his hands, Pope Francis prayed inside the Blue Mosque in Istanbul on Saturday as he sought to reach out to moderate Muslims - a day after condemning the fanaticism of Isil and other terrorist groups.

In a gesture of bridge-building with the Muslim world, the 77-year-old pontiff closed his eyes in silent prayer as he stood next to Istanbul’s chief mufti, Rahmi Yaran.

The two men, both dressed in white, faced east towards Mecca, in what Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, described as “a moment of silent adoration.”

The Argentine Pope’s predecessor, Benedict XVI, did the same thing during his visit to the mosque in 2006, in part to atone for a speech he had made in Germany in which he appeared to equate Islam with violence - a remark that caused outrage across the Muslim world.

Pope Francis marvelled at the vast scale of the Blue Mosque, so named for the elaborate blue tiles that adorn its interior, which sits on a hill overlooking the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara.

The last person to try to assassinate a Pope was a Turk – Mehmet Ali Agca served 19 years in prison after shooting John Paul II in St Peter’s Square in 1981, in an attack that nearly proved fatal.

Pope Francis was then driven a few hundred yards to the other great religious landmark of Istanbul – the Hagia Sophia basilica, which faces the Blue Mosque across a large square.

Pope Francis visits the Blue Mosque

Dating back to the fourth century AD, the vast structure was a Christian Cathedral for a thousand years until it was converted into a mosque in 1453 after the Ottoman conquest of what was then Constantinople.

It was turned into a museum in 1934 under the secular regime of Ataturk, but has recently become the subject of controversy, with some Turks, particularly Islamists and nationalists, calling for it to be converted back into a mosque.

The inflammatory proposal is a reflection of the creeping Islamisation that is underway in Turkey under the rule of its pious and abrasive president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who recently claimed that Muslims discovered America before Columbus.

Senior members of the president’s Justice and Development party have called for the great basilica to be restored as a place of Muslim worship.

Earlier this year Bulent Arinc, the deputy prime minister, described Hagia Sophia as “forlorn” and said he looked forward to “the day when it smiles” – interpreted as a call for its conversion back to a mosque.

Mindful of the acute sensitivities involved, the Pope did not make any reference to the debate when he was given a tour of the basilica’s magnificent interior.

But outside the entrance to the church, a tiny group of Turkish Christians had gathered to welcome the pontiff, and voiced their dismay at the idea of turning it back into a mosque.

Pope Francis and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople lead a mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit (FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP)

“It would be a bad idea,” said Can Barlas, a 50-year-old Turk who belongs to the Armenian Catholic Church. “If it is to be converted back into a place of worship, we would want to see it become a church once again. That’s what we’re hoping for in the long term.”

As he spoke, the call to prayer rang out from a nearby mosque, underlining Islam’s dominance in a country where 98 per cent of the population is Muslim.

The Rev John Chryssavgis, a theological adviser to the Patriarch of Constantinople, the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians, said the idea of converting Hagia Sophia into a mosque was frequently raised by “conservative elements” in the Turkish government.

“Erdogan himself has not proposed it, but he has not opposed it either. We would object to that if it became a serious proposition. We’re pretty confident that the whole of the Christian world, and the whole of the artistic world, would support us,” he told The Telegraph.

Hagia Sophia’s mixed heritage as a place of worship for first Christians and then Muslims is in evidence everywhere.

Exquisite Byzantine mosaics of Christ, Mary and St John the Baptist adorn the walls along with huge panels decorated with verses from the Koran.

After flying in from Ankara, the first leg of his three-day trip, the Pope was driven into Istanbul in a modest silver-coloured Renault, rather than the sleek, bullet-proof limousine that the Turkish authorities had initially offered.

Later, wearing a gold-braided scarlet cassock, he celebrated Mass at the Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Istanbul.

He also had a meeting with Bartholomew I, the Patriarch of Constantinople, who is regarded as the "first among equals" of the world's 300 million Orthodox believers.

The pair have met several times since the Pope’s election in March last year, trying to mend the breach between their two churches that dates back to the Great Schism of 1054.

The Pope’s visit was a “historic moment” that would help contribute to the long-term aim of reuniting the 1.2 billion-strong Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, the Patriarch said.

“We are trying to improve collaboration in the face of the acute problems that confront the world,” he told journalists.